Uitdaging

The Flemish Environment Agency (VMM) is responsible for water level and flow measurements on non-navigable watercourses in Flanders. Many measurement locations are situated in hard-to-reach areas, making the autonomy of these measurements a significant challenge. Recent developments in image processing and AI also offer opportunities for detecting plant growth, riverbed drying, or estimating flow rates using camera images. In this project, VMM aims to develop an open, programmable, modular Low-Power IoT measurement solution. This solution must be capable of processing camera images while providing sufficient autonomy to meet operational hydrometry needs. VMM intends to deploy AI algorithms for the detection of riverbed drying or plant growth in watercourses. The project will also explore the possibility of estimating flow rates of small, non-navigable watercourses based on camera images. 

With this project, VMM seeks to make significant progress in ensuring the quality of flow measurements and improving the efficiency of managing measurement networks.